Is arcane acuity a background thing?

[u/Due_Protection_6428]

So I have this hat that gives me Arkin and cutey anytime I do thunder damage so what I did was equip phalar aluve and the magic missile necklace and I did a bunch of thunder dmg but… I don’t see it in the spell description or on my character I’m wondering if that kind of interaction doesn’t count or it’s something you can’t actually see how much you have

[u/Due_Protection_6428 → u/[deleted]]

Sorry I’m dumb I don’t know what you mean

[u/BlackLabelCrow → u/Due_Protection_6428]

Pretty sure Magic Missile does force damage, not thunder. That’s probably your problem here.

[u/Due_Protection_6428 → u/BlackLabelCrow]

Unless you mean the spell itself has to which might be the case

[u/BlackLabelCrow → u/Due_Protection_6428]

I meant the spell itself, but I also forgot that Phalar Aluve is supposed to add thunder damage with its shriek. So I was still a bit off, ha.

[u/Due_Protection_6428 → u/BlackLabelCrow]

No worries 😌

[u/Due_Protection_6428 → u/BlackLabelCrow]

Nah the magic missiles are for the sword cause when I shreak it does thunder dmg with each missile

[u/Ycr1998 → u/Due_Protection_6428]

I think I understand now. You used Phalar Aluve + Magic Missile but the Hat of Storm Scion's Power didn't give you Arcane Acuity?

It only works with damage your character deals. Since the Thunder damage came from the sword, it doesn't work. You have to cast a Thunder spell (Chromatic Orb: Thunder, Thunderwave, Shatter etc).

It does work if some item gives you a "free" version of a spell, like a ring that gives you Thunderwave for example.

[u/Due_Protection_6428 → u/Ycr1998]

Ohhhh! That makes sense I see thank you!

[u/Acceptable_Account_2]

Note - if you like the Hat of the Storm Scion, keep using it. But if you plan was to get infinite Acuity stacks by using Magic Missile + Phalar Aluve, like people said it doesn’t work that way.

However- the Hat of Fire Acuity DOES work that way when you wear it and cast “Scorching Ray”. This is because Scorching Ray creates multiple beams of fire, each of which gets their own attack roll, and each counts as an independent instance of damage. So a 2nd level spell slot of Scorching Ray can get 6 stacks of Acuity (if all beams hit).

I could be wrong, but I believe that even if you cast an area of effect spell that did Thunder damage (like Shatter or Thunderwave) you would still only get 2 stacks of Acuity.

You don’t NEED to switch, even 1 stack of Acuity is impactful. But from your question, it seems like you wanted more…

https://bg3.wiki/wiki/Hat_of_Fire_Acuity

[u/Due_Protection_6428 → u/Acceptable_Account_2]

That’s awesome thanks it’s the only one I found that gave this affect I’m not a gamer and never played dnd so the game has a a lot I don’t understand but I’ll keep that in mind for sure

[u/Acceptable_Account_2 → u/Due_Protection_6428]

It’s a drop from one of the oxen in the stables near Last Light Inn, if you’re still in Act 2 you may be able to get it. Don’t worry - that specific ox is evil.

[u/Old-Quail6832 → u/Acceptable_Account_2]

Hat and helm give 2 stacks per proc btw. So lvl 2 SR can give 6 stacks if they all land, lvl 4 ray can full stack.

[u/Acceptable_Account_2 → u/Old-Quail6832]

That’s right, will edit.